The 48 companies we profiled positively fell 5.7%, on average, through June, while their relevant benchmarks rose 0.3%, based on price changes measured from the Friday before publication. In contrast, our bearish calls continue to beat the market. The 14 companies about which we wrote negatively dropped 1.2%, on average, versus a 1.2% gain in their benchmarks.

Amid the hype about Facebook in much of the media prior to its May initial public offering, Barron's was skeptical. We panned the social-media giant's stock-market prospects around the time it was filing its IPO ("At Long Last, Facebook," Feb. 6), and then again in the week before it went public ("Mad About Facebook," May 14). Our take: The shares, trading for nearly 100 times trailing earnings, looked very expensive, given the company's key challenges, especially generating meaningful revenue from its growing base of mobile users. At the end of June, Facebook shares dropped to $31 from their initial offering price of $38, and that's about where they now stand. Facebook still is no bargain at 60 times estimated 2012 profits when established growth companies like Apple and Google trade at a fraction of that multiple.

Barron's isn't an investment newsletter, but part of our mission is trying to find undervalued and overvalued stocks around the world. With readers turning to us for investment ideas, it's important to periodically tally the score. We began doing these report cards in 2003, and we now look at our performance twice a year, regardless of whether the results make us look good or bad. We examine our prior year's stock selections in January and take an initial look at current-year picks in July, when we also assess the selections from the year before.

Click here for a list of our 2012 bullish picks, and see the nearby chart of our 2012 bearish calls. Up-to-date performance of both our 2011 and 2012 buys and sells–as well as information on earlier-year picks and pans—is available, free of charge, at Barrons.com.

The story was similar for our 2011 picks. Our 30 bearish choices dropped 6.6% on average through June 29, against a 2.5% rise in the indexes. But our 97 bullish picks were off 0.6%, while their benchmarks were up 5.2%.

A note on our methodology: We compare the performance of the stocks against what we consider to be an appropriate benchmark, based on each company's market value. We use the S&P 500 for large-cap and foreign stocks, the S&P MidCap 400 for midsize companies, and the Russell 2000 for small-caps. Every stock is weighted equally in our score card, and the returns don't include dividends.

The tables show the 2012 picks and pans ranked from best to worst, compared with their benchmark indexes. We include feature articles that touch on one or two companies but exclude broader industry articles. We also omit stocks profiled in our columns, such as the Trader and Streetwise. Our columnists do a reckoning at the end of each year and often provide intermittent updates.

We feel that stock picks need time to pan out; a year to 18 months seems reasonable. We sometimes stop the clock when we do follow-up stories if stocks hit target prices, leading us to declare victory, or bomb out, prompting us to concede defeat. In these situations, we stop tracking the stocks, and measure their performance until the date the follow-up is published.

Here's an update on some of our first-half winners:

Verisk Analytics, a leading provider of risk-assessment services to the property-and-casualty insurance industry, continues to report strong profits. The stock, now around 50, isn't cheap, trading for 25 times estimated 2012 profits, and Berkshire Hathaway, a longstanding holder, has pared its stake.

BB&T, the North Carolina bank, has benefited from strength among many regional banks, as profits have rebounded this year. Corrections Corp., the prison operator, has gotten a boost lately from speculation that it may convert into a real-estate investment trust that would pass most of its profits along to shareholders.

Phillips 66 has risen since early May–shortly after its spinoff from ConocoPhillips–as investors became more confident that ample refining margins would hold and as Wall Street recognized the value of its nonrefining businesses like chemicals.

What We See In the Mirror

We're better than the average bear, but our bullish calls need some work.

Price

Change

2012

2011

BULLISH Articles

-5.70%

-0.6%

Benchmark Indexes

0.3

5.2

S&P 500

0.8

6.3

BEARISH Articles

-1.2%

-6.6%

Benchmark Indexes

1.2

2.5

S&P 500

2.4

4.3

OUR BIGGEST LOSER, AVI BioPharma has fallen almost 60% after reporting preliminary results in April from a clinical trial for its lead drug that disappointed Wall Street. That drug is for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a fatal genetic disease affecting boys that now has no effective treatment. AVI's product is designed to stimulate production of a key muscle protein, dystrophin, absent in DMD victims. The trial showed meaningfully higher levels of dystrophin in a group of boys. But they did no better in a walking test than those given a placebo.

AVI believes that longer exposure to the drug should produce a clinical benefit, and more trial results will be released later this year.

Cliffs, the leading North American producer of iron ore, has been stung by concern about the steel market, given the global economic slowdown and a slower-than-expected ramp-up of production at its Canadian mines. The shares, however, could be bottoming. They're trading around 45, or just six times projected 2012 profits and carry a 5.5% dividend yield.

Tiffany hasn't glittered since our March article, hurt by disappointing first-quarter results that showed weakening margins, a sales slowdown in Asia, and worse-than-expected profits. The global weakness in spending on luxury goods—highlighted by last week's news of slackening sales at Burberry—is chilling the entire sector. Tiffany, at 51, is way below its peak last summer of 84 and trades for 14 times projected 2012 profits. That valuation usually has marked a trough for Tiffany, writes JPMorgan analyst Brian Tunick in a note. (For more on the stock, see Follow-Up.)

On the bearish side, we've been wrong on
Altria,
mo 0.33210332103321033%Altria Group Inc.U.S.: NYSEUSD54.38
0.180.33210332103321033%
/Date(1438376416058-0500)/
Volume (Delayed 15m)
:
4535359AFTER HOURSUSD54.38
%
Volume (Delayed 15m)
:
308512
P/E Ratio
20.915384615384614Market Cap
106622593273.447
Dividend Yield
3.8249356381022435% Rev. per Employee
2057000More quote details and news »moinYour ValueYour ChangeShort position
as shares of the Marlboro maker are up 16% since January. Altria has been helped by strength in defensive, high-dividend stocks this year. But now, around 35, it no longer trades at a meaningful discount to most major consumer companies, and it faces declining cigarette volume and affordability problems, given the high cost per pack in many parts of the country.

As for us, we're aiming for a stronger second half. Remember, the winners of the most recent Super Bowl and World Series didn't look so hot at midseason, either.